Make your own MAPLE SYRUP

Sugaring season is from late FEBRUARY through early APRIL, Identify a sugar Maple tree 12 inches in diameter. On the sunny side of the tree, find a healthy spot at waist height. AT an upward angle, drill a 2 inch deep hole large enough to accommodate the spout.Use a mallet to drive your spout (called a SPILE) into the hole. Multiple taps in the same tree should be at least 6 inches apart, Hang a clean, covered container, called a sap bucket , but some people use other containers. athey all will work as long as they can catch the sap as it runs out of the tree thru the spile, keep the bucket covered if you can. Collect the sap each day and keep it cold to prevent souring. Boil it as soon as possible. It takes 10 GALLONS of sap to make 1QUART of SYRUP. An average MAPLE TREE with a single tap will yield about 10 gallons over the course of a sugaring season. Start the boiling process outdoors. As the water in the sap begins to evoporate, continue to add cold sap to the boiling sap. Don't overfill the pan because it could boil over (apply melted butter to the rim of the pan to help keep the boiling sap from foaming.)  Keep at least an inch of sap in the bottom of the pan at all times to avoid having it burn. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature. The finished syrup should be 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water, which varies by elevation. Filter the boiling syrup through a clean, wet white felt or paper filter into a glass jar. Seal the jar and tip it on it's side for several minutes as the syrup cools. Sealed jars of syrup can be stored at room temperature but should be refrigerated after being opened for use. Properly prepared syrup can also be stored in the freezer. Use hot water , but not soap to clean equipment. Taps should be removed from the trees when the first buds appear.MAPLE SYRUP comes in Grades; GRADE A (a very light , has a mild more delicate maple flavor)GRADE A Medium amber, a bit darkerm and more maple flavor, GRADE A DARK AMBER has a stronger maple flavor. And GRADE B is made latein the season and is very dark, with a very strong maple flavor.      MAPLE SYRUP  delicious to drink straight, or use on ice cream and is used to make special special pies, cakes etc.       One of the best ways as a child for me was to have what we called SUGAR ON SNOW; Boil maple syrup until it spins a thread, Pour in tiny stream over hard packed fresh snow. The snow is arranged either in a soup dishes or in one very large bowl for ever one to dip into, Old timers like to eat pickles so you can eat more sugar cuz MAPLE SYRUP is extremly sweet.

MY STATE

Where rosy dawns bedeck the East, And golden sunsets shine, Where air is pure and fragant with the scent of spruce and pine, Where golden-rod and clover red And daisies smile at you, And blue-birds greet you in the spring, Your friendship to renew, that's my State.    Where lowing herds in pastures green, contented wend their way, to cooling streams their thirst to slake at close of heated day, Where mountains grand in verdure clad stand guard oer the wide sweep of meadow wooded hills and glades and silent vigils keep, that's my state.Where autumn  paints the landscape wide with tints of rarest hue, and winter clothes the earth in white neath skies of brightest blue, where babbling brooks go dancing on O're rocks and pebbles white, while mirrored lakes serene and still Reflects the moons pale light , (that's my state).                                                                                            

PETS AND PLAY

Yesterday I was a dog, Today I'm still a dog, Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog, Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement.            THE TALE OF TWO VERY SPECIAL DOGS>                                                             The first is a dachound a black-tan fiesty little dog, whom I choose to affectionately call the bickerdog, He reminds me of a lawyer cuz he will argue and always wants things his way. HE and I have a very special relationship, he runs down the path to my door for his treat, he loves the way my bucher cuts bones with marrow the right size for him and he loves fresh liverwurst. He loves to come over to spend time with me when his family is away, We have a play time we call it our very own campfire, we sit tell stories aqnd we sing, HE loves to sing He has a deep falcetto voice, that can go into a shrill bark, and he is very light on his feet, but he will let you know in no un certain terms if you step on his toes, HE loves to ride in his masters truck, but He get overly anxious and tinkles on the seat, and tat doesn't sit very well for the master. The other Dog of distinction is amix breed, He's light tan with the sweetest dispostion .He also loves to ride in a truck, his owner often takes him for rides or to the park to play frizeebe this dog can leap tall buildings in a single bound, or he will drink the best longtrail ale that's found, Pets engage in a kind of play that is beyond the world of competition. When people face real adversity, affection from a pet takes on new meaning.PETS ALLOW YOU TO BE ALONE WITHOUT BEING LONELY>

TWO COUSINS

THOUGHTS WHILE READING<  IN the mountains, the fir trees stand tall, the ground frozen with the first snow, The cattails stand straight and the last of the green hay has turned to a frozen mound, The mirror of the pond gleams, Half an acre in size, The splendor of the sky, and the whiteness of the clouds Are reflected back upon themselves, I look toward the sky and I ask the pond where I can find Anything else as pure and transparent. :'Only in the springs of the water of life,; and I say to my self it doesn't get any better than this. These two cousins just two girls love to come to the mountains with the hardwood trees, the maple that used to be tapped every year for it's sap then turned into amber gold, maple syrup, the hill that once was a thriving apple orchard the trees are old decaying the branches we once swung on as children are no more, in the distance one can see outlines of thick fir trees swaying in the gentle breeze. One cousin loves grammar and punctuation and for every thing to be in a correct manner the other is a free spirited soul who loves the way of the old, and has a passion for saving wildlife, animals, wildflowers, marshes, trees, and all the birds and creatures.The mountains and marshes must be protected and these two cousins come every year to a land where the ancestors worked from dusk to dawn and they sit and tell a tale of long Ago.

PORTRAIT

A PICTURE FREEZES A MOMENT IN TIME;  In the curtained filtered light I once drew a portrait of your face. Wide with softness your eyes were framed first, Tracing slowly barely touching, My fingers found a curve of the temple, gentle pulsating, your cheeks were Ivory sought the corners of your nose and tucked a whimsy-lift to the corners of your mouth as it began to form a smile, on your forehead I found the firmness of a broad brow determined noble. In the tender traveling of my fingers across each delicate feature I learned to memorize every line, every contour, every tiny uniqueness, now alone In the still darkness I draw with the brush of my fingers A PORTRAIT OF YOUR FACE.

Outdoor Enthusiast

To paraphrase Thoreau's "Discover  I had not lived" with the expression, "Never say, I wish I had', I believe it means personal and physical barriers of embarrassment, reticence and other priorities are not justification for saying, I wish I had."  I believe physical activity can be a stress reliever as well as a "lifestyle for the long haul." Some could say shoveling snow portrays the entertainment of the outdoors, I like to call it "Outdoor Play". A beautiful, vivacious young woman I know would be able to describe the insights and healthy lifestyle of outdoor sports. She will make you want to put on your backpack, find your running shoes, borrow a kayak, or canoe, tune up the bike, and get ready for a downhill race. Some folks call outdoor experiences "Play", this young woman thinks of it as a daily adventure, I believe she feels most adults and children do not play enough. She believes Outdoor Play means relaxing while learning and seeing the outdoors from "the Inside", and aren't we all a Guest in Natures Habitat, and for me listening to her describe where she's been is an eclectic adventure. I feel this young woman is worth investing time in for i feel she will undoubtedly make a place in our notable books, I plan on keeping tabs on her but if you think she stays in place for very long you'd be amiss  cuz  she is as illusive as a butterfly , but if you turn your attention to other things she might light and sit side by side with you for a few seconds, then she is gone to fulfill  her desire for her never ending thirst for knowledge, her true friends are few her acquaintances are many and she can go to rags to riches in a flash and what ever level you are intellectually she will meet you in the middle she won't belittle you to your face but I feel alone or with a close few she shares a guffaw.

Deer are ruminant mammals with cloven hoofs

Deer yards are, simply put, places where deer congregate and hole up for the winter. These tend to be places on the south side of a ridge, with good sheltering trees (mature softwoods like spruce or fir, hemlock, cedar and pine), and enough low growth and low-hanging hardwood (and in hard times, softwood) limbs within easy traveling distance for food. While people were talking about spring being just around the corner, February was cocking it's arm for a punch, and threw one in good shape with several days of snow and extreme bitter cold, and it added to the existing winter's accumulation, it was enough to make things hard going for the deer, even on well trodden trails. Deep snow late in the season causes three concerns, It's harder for deer, especially pregnant deer, to outrun predators, chiefly free running domestic dogs and coyotes. It makes it harder for them to reach food, and third, and most telling, it makes them use up dwindling reserves of energy that they'll need to ride out the wet, cold weather of march and April. For the deer, a spate of snowstorms in February can make a difference between life and death---a thing were apt to think little about as we grouse about commuting delays or having to shovel or walk. The deer that come in my yard have been coming for 25years, and they follow the cycle of the moon, they are cautious, quiet and the color of beautiful cashmere brown, standing so still, lifting their head only to graze again then when startled they will gracefully move and bound over the snow bank with tail raised high like a white flag cuz under neath the tail the hair is snow white, that's why one calls a deer tail flying like a white flag, to see the deer and be able to feed them in this day and age it's better than cool or awesome it's on of gods miracles he's created for us.